Chrome OS

In Short

Chrome is yet another Google software platform, much like Android, only different. It's a desktop browser, a mobile app, and the operating system for Google's series of laptops and mini desktops.

Chrome means several different things, but they all center around one main component — Google’s Chrome framework.

On the traditional computer side — that’d be your desktop or your laptop — the Chrome browser is just a download away no matter what brand of computer you have. It’s available for Microsoft Windows, Apple’s macOS, and most flavors of Linux as an easy-to-install prebuilt package. Hardcore Unix types can also build the open-source version — dubbed Chromium — for just about any modern machine. The Chrome browser is easy to install, and that’s just the way Google likes it.

That brings us to Chrome OS, and the machines that run it. Google has partnered with companies like HP and Acer to build inexpensive laptops, mini desktop Chromeboxes, and HDMI sticks called Chromebits that run Chrome OS. It is basically a very stripped down version of Linux, where the user-space tools and applications — those are the programs and user interface that we see when we turn it on — are about the same Chrome experience you'd find on your computer. This gives you an easy-to-use machine that’s always up to date. The latest security and feature releases are downloaded automatically and installed when you reboot. It's a machine that’s perfect for the Internet. If you mostly use your computer for Facebooking, watching YouTube, or surfing the web, you’re the target audience for a Chrome OS device.

Now that Chrome OS also runs Android apps and has access to Google Play, they can do a lot more. Most of your favorite apps (that you've already paid for) will run great in their own window on your Chromebook. Everything is sandboxed using Chrome's security features and now you have access to just about anything you would want to do through Chrome.

We love everything Chrome around these parts, and Android Central is the right place to find out more about all things Chrome and Google.

14 August 20172By Jerry HildenbrandYou know Google Chrome. It's on your phone, on your computer and might even be powering your laptop. It's one of Google's most ambitious projects and it plays a big part of their strategy for the web and mobile. Chrome is everywhere.

01 September 2017By Jerry HildenbrandWith the rapid pace of releases pumping out new Chromebooks on a regular basis it's hard to say what's "the best," but every so often we need to put our collective feet down and make a list — these are the best Chromebooks available.

07 September 2017By Jerry HildenbrandAdding a Chromebox to your home allows you to plug in your monitor or TV to a desktop-like box running Chrome. They're great for basic tasks or daily work, as well as passing any downtime. And the ASUS Chromebox is the best one available.

19 September 201742By Andrew MartonikRight alongside fresh leaks of the Pixel 2 XL and new Google Home Mini, we also have information on a brand new Pixel-branded Chromebook from Google called the Pixelbook.

07 September 2017By Jerry HildenbrandAdding a Chromebox to your home allows you to plug in your monitor or TV to a desktop-like box running Chrome. They're great for basic tasks or daily work, as well as passing any downtime. And the ASUS Chromebox is the best one available.

01 September 2017By Jerry HildenbrandWith the rapid pace of releases pumping out new Chromebooks on a regular basis it's hard to say what's "the best," but every so often we need to put our collective feet down and make a list — these are the best Chromebooks available.

14 August 20172By Jerry HildenbrandYou know Google Chrome. It's on your phone, on your computer and might even be powering your laptop. It's one of Google's most ambitious projects and it plays a big part of their strategy for the web and mobile. Chrome is everywhere.

13 August 20175By Jerry HildenbrandWe're all pretty familiar with Chromebooks, but if you're looking for a Chrome computer you should know there are other options out there, too. Like Chromeboxes or a Chromebit. Read on to see which is right for you.